Game board



Sept. 12, 1950 s. H. KEI-:GAN E-rAl.

GAME BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 3, 1948 GAME BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Aug. 3. 1948 I @ya @www W f w @EM .2 www m A WW@ w, -M J T M d,y

Patented Sept. 12, 1950 GAME BOARD Simon H. KeeganQBrookIyn,GeorgeWroldsen, Douglastori, `and JosephgM. Rhatigan, Brooklyn,

Application-August s, 194s, serial No. 42,214 A .nl Y l l i Thisinvention is a game board so constructed that it may be used for playingseveral kinds of games or simulated gaines. More specifically, the gameboard of this invention may 'beV used forl playing simulated base ball,bowling, "shuilie board and horse collar 'A The game board of thepresent invention is provided with an oval shaped rim around its outeredge for guiding suitable surface projectiles used in playing thevarious games involved.

e fi'olaim. (o1. 273-39) kA player shoots or propels the projectilealong the right-hand side of the board where it, `contacts the curvedbordering rim, vcausing the pro jectile to reverse its direction of.travel and go into scoring pockets or to stop on designated areas or toknock down miniature tenpi'nsv or l to bounce oii" a miniature baseballbat, into appropriate scoring pockets, in accordance withv theparticular game being played at the time.

The principal feature ofthe invention is that the element of skill isinvolved, means being provided whereby the player may control the pathof the projectile. Such control ofy the projectile path is provided by avariably positionable' fence, which may be set at various angles in thepath of the projectile so as to deilect the lprojectile in the desireddirection, in `accordance with the wishes and skill of the player.

This fence is so placed that it is in` effect a continuation of thebordering rim, so'that the projectile, when it rounds-the 'U-bend,engages such fence, and is deflected thereby in the desired direction,in accordancewith its angular setting. y

More particularly, this guiding fence `is controlled by a two-armedlever with'itsarms Aextending approximately at right angles to veachother, one arm engaging the fence forv moving it and holding it in itsdesired angular setting, While the other arm is connected to a exiblecable or rod controlled by the hand of the player, whereby the player,by manipulation of the cable or rod, may vary the angular setting of thefence and thereby the path of the projectile, with each shot.

The invention will be further described in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a game board of the present invention;

l Fig.' 5 is a view on a small scale showing a board used'for'bowling; fFig. 6 is a similar View for playing shuffle board. A

lReferring vnow tothe drawings, the board corri--l prises a basel 2,above which is positioned, in spaced relation, the board 4, forming ltheplaying surface. Base 2 could, if desired, be omitted, and the board 4used as a base board for the apparatus. The front or players end' of thegame board is wider than the other end. The twolboards 2 and# aresecured to and heldin spaced apart relation by theVU-sh'apedrller .Strip6F I 4The gainev board is provided with a vertically positioned,rip-standing rim or border 8, for con# iining the projectile to thevplaying surface." l

The lowerright-hand corner is'provided with any suitable `known type of'projector orA shooter 9 for shooting a ball, disk or other ltype ofpro-y jectile according to the type of "game played.' The projectilecould alsobe projectedmanually, if desired. r e

`Corning now to the most important featureV of snowing a board ijn usethe invention, the board 4 is provided with a re-V silient fence ordeflector I2, which is in the form" of a vertically positioned strip,the right hand end of which is insetwith respect to 'the rim' 8 formingin eect a continuation of theV inner surface of said rim 8. Thisflexible fence I2 is resiliently mounted, as by rivets I4 or the like,

Fig. 2v is an enlarged section on Ithe line 2-r-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the bat used; l Fig. 4 is a sectional View inenlarged perspective of one end of a game boardfof the presentinvention; f :.1 f t" f 1d..

to the inner surface of rim 8 vso vas to be movable outwardly of suchrim, against the resiliency of the fence. f

In order to control the movements of the fence I2 and forsetting it inthe desired angular position for deflecting the projectile in thefdesired direction, there is provided a two-armed lever, indicatedgenerally at I5. This lever comprises an arm lpositioned behind or tothe left of the fence I2, having an upstanding part I8 engaging againstthe back of the-fence I2. Integral with arm I6 is a verticaloi'f-set 2Uwhich is pivoted in the two armed bracket 22 positioned in a suitablecut-out in the iillerstripv 6.

@Integral with'the off-set 20 is' the other arm 24of-'thelever`,`extending at approximately-right angles to the arm I 6, butlocated'in a lower plane, being located inthe space between thel boards2 and 4, as shown in Fig. 2. A cord,cableor wire `26l is connected tothe outerend'of arm 24 and passes around a pulley 28 'andf'thence belowboard 4, to the front thereof, and through a hole 30km the front board32,wher'e its outer player.n Itis evidentfthat a. pull von .the1cab1e 26will move deflecting fence I2 in a counterclockwise direction fordeecting the projectile more and more to the right in accordance withthe angular position assumed by fence I2. When the cord is released, theresilience of the fence I2 causes il; to resume its normal position. Inuse, the .player would null the cable 26 .a ,small amount and hold it'with his thumb against Ythe rim of hole 30, for fixing the angularposition of the fence I2, and then would shoot the projectile manuallyor mechanically from 9 with his right hand. Instead of using a cable 26and' pulley 28, a light rod could zbe'used, as iseevident.

' S. The batter is safe at rst, the runner on third The parts so fardescribed are used in :playing the several games capable of being playedwith this board.

Base ball Base ball is played as follows: One or more players mayparticipate'. The ball is delivered either by rolling manually or withthe aid of a ,projector along the right side oi vthe board around therim to the flexible fence 'I2 which is bent by pulling on the cable '25to give ythe necessary guidance so that the ball will .cross the homeplate H. The bat is swung at the ball, causing it either .to enter oneof pockets A to N, Ito remain .on the board, or to be driven into lairground and thence back. into end pockets Q to X. The board is normallylevel and the b all .bounces oli various surfaces until it cornes to,rest Three outs on the part .of one team terminates 'its turn at bat.When each team has had three .outs an inning has passed. Nine inningsconstitute a game. Extra innings may be played inthe event of a tie.Typical plays have Ybeen set up for each pocket into which the .b allmay be driven. The progress of the gaine 'is determined by these playswhich are described below.V

For the game of base ball, a simulated 4diamond 36 is laid out. Aminiature bat 38, provided with a vertical pivot ,All is ,positioned ina suitable socket .at either side ofthe plate. 'Pivot 210 may becircular, moving in a circular hole so that it .swings iree. Theopposing player swings the bat as -des'ired as the ball .comes towardthe bat from the fence l2, for driving the ball into one of a seriesoffpockets located near .the smaller end of .the'board andnumbered fromA to N inclusive.

If .the'ball drops into .one of these pockets, the

io'llowing plays are indicated:

A. A home run.

B. .1A three -base hit, scoring .all runners.

C. A two ibase hit, scoring runners kfrom second and third bases andadvancing the runner from liirst Ato third zbase.

D. Asingleellrunners advance one base.

E. A sacriiice ily, runner von third base scores, runner onsecondlgoesfto third, Aand runner .on lrst holds .his base.

E. ,'Asingle, :same as VD. l

G. A vthree `base hit, -same as B.

H. A two base hit,'.a1l basemen score.

I. A single, batter singles, baseman on third scores -and .baseman andsecondout at home. Baseman on first Aout vat third.

J. :Batter safe at vrst, .runner out at Vhome plate,

land others advance one base.

K. A single, ,man on third scores, .man on second is outat home and manon'iirstrgoes to second.

L. A two base hit, same Vas C.

M. .A two Ibase hit, all runnersscore.

N. outfield fly, same as E.

flffhowever, the ball comes ftorest on the .sur-

Iii

base scores, the runner on second is out at third, and 4the runner onfirst goes to second.

T. A home U. A home run.

Y. ,Asingle :all runners advance one base.

W. A bunt, the batter is safe at first, the runner on third is out athome, the runner on second goes to third, and the runner on iirst goesto second.

X. Batter Iiiies out to catcher, all runners hold vbases.

1f .the ball goes 0.ver the plate and the batter does not swing, andtheball enters an end pocket, it is a strike. If he swings and misses, andthe ball enters an end pocket, it is a strike. If the ball 'is not overthe plate and the batter does not swing, and the ball enters an endpocket, it is a ball. No play can take place in end pockets Q AtoXf'unless a ball has iirst been hit into fair territory and hasthereafter reached one of these pockets. lThe batter may swing rfromright or left, as desired.

'The bat 38 is pivoted to swing `freely on a pivot il@ and is startedspinning by the opposing player at the same time the other player shoots4the ball or projectile at 9.

The game is scored in accordance with standard baseball playing rules,in accordance with the plays made and resulting scores, as deter-'-mined Aby the nal point reached by the ball on the 'several plays.

Bowling When aboard ,as shown in Figure 5 is used for bowling, miniatureten pins 52 v,are set up as shown in Fig. 5, anda ball or marble is shotor manually delivered, as before, and guided by the appropriate angularsetting of the fence I2, as already described. Usually 2 or 3 balls willbe delivered in reach Aframe for ten frames.

,Each player V,delivers one or two balls along the right. side of theboard to the ilexible fence ,I2 which is :bent by a pull on cable 26 todeilect the ball toward the ten pins. The player uses 4but one `bal-l ifhe can bowl over all pins with that one. If not, he `tries to with asecond ball` Delivery Aof one or two balls constitutes a Iframe. Each@player bowls ten frames. The scoring is done lust -as in the regulargame of bowling, with strikea lspa-resi and total pins for three balls.

Shame board Where the board is used for playing shullle board, asfshown.in-Fig. 6 an area ll/2l .is marked off in `Zones corresponding -to theusual shuille board markings, a projectile 56 in this case being a slideing friction disk 'which is delivered manually and is guided by fence I2in accordance with the skill of the player, ,starring on appropriatescoring zones, as in shuille board. Pockets Q, R., .#S, T are provided,as in Fig. 1

The lgame Vmaybe Iplayed by two or four players. One @side shoots reddiscs, the other green. The object of the game is to knock offtheaopponeuts discs and to remain on the .playing board. A red n disc isdelivered manually along the right side flected to remain on the.playing surface 54p Green shoots next and tries to knock the red discoff or to slide up in front of the red. Again red shoots, trying eitherto knock off green, slide in front of green, or advance any red disc onthe board to a better scoring position. When all eight discs have beendelivered, the color (red or green) nearest end pockets Q, R, Si, Twins.

Scoring takes place as follows: Assume that green is nearest the endpockets Q, R, S, T. Then all green discs remaining ahead of reds countas follows: If any disc should hang over the end of the board, such disccounts 4 points. Any disc resting in area X counts 3 poinm. Any discresting in area Y counts 2 points. Any disc resting in area Z counts 1point. Assuming that a green disc is nearest end ypockets Q-T, and thatthe next disc to it is red, then no additional green disc may count,regardless of how many may remain on the board. The player having thecolor that wins a particular round leads off ilrst in the next round. Inthis case green, having won, goes rst. The first team (red or green)reaching a total of twenty-one points wins'the match. Any disc droppinginto the end pockets Q-T is dead.

Horse collar Horse collar is a modification of shuiiie board. It isplayed with eight discs as in shuilie board. If each team consists ofbut one man, he will shoot 8 discs. man will shoot 4 discs. If each teamconsists of 3 men, the rst man shoots 2 discs and the next two men shoot3 discs apiece. If each team consists of 4 men, each man shoots 2 discsapiece. The players use the adjustable fence l2 for guiding the discs,as before. The object of this game is to keep as many discs on theplaying surface 54, Fig. 6, as is possible and to cause at least onediscs to come to rest in area marked X. If the player or team has failedto get at least one disc in area marked X, or to hang over the end ofthe board above pockets Q-T, then the score of that team for thatparticular inning is 0, which suggests horse collar, the name of thegame.

Assume, however, that one or more discs come to rest in scoring area X,then the score for that particular inning is computed as follows: Alldiscs protruding over the end of the board, i. e., above pockets QT,count eight points each. All discs resting completely in area X count 3.points each.

,All discs resting completely in area Y countv 2 points each. All discsresting in area Z count 1 point each. If a disc should rest on a linewithin the scoring area, the disc takes the value ofthe lower scoringarea. Discs in pockets Q-T have If each team consists of two men, each oscoring value. Total` points scored in six rames or innings wins thegame.

The invention is not limited to any particular method of play or scoringfor any of the games described. These factors may be varied as desired.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it should beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the precise detailsshown, but may be carried out in other ways.

We claim:

A game board comprising a board providing a playing area for a surfaceprojectile, an approximately U-shaped rim in the form of a verticalstrip at the extreme outer edge of the board for confining the,projectile thereto, said rim extending uninterruptedly around threesides of said board, a vertically positioned strip of resilient materialhaving one Vertical surface secured at one end thereof to the innersurface of said rim and inset into the rim so as to be ush with theinner surface thereof, said end being positioned adjacent the U-bend ofsaid rim, the other end being free and normally resting against theinner surface of the rim, said rim being recessed behind said resilientstrip, a two-arm lever, the arms of which are horizontal and -connectedby a vertical offset, said lever having one arm positioned in saidrecess and engaging the free end of said strip of resilient material,and having the other arm beneath the game board, and means including aflexible cord connected to said other arm of said lever for actuatingthe lever to bend said strip outwardly into the path of said projectile,the strip snapping back to its original position when said cord isreleased.y

` SIMON H. KEEGAN.

GEORGE WROLDSEN. JOSEPH M. RHATIGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

